1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to identifying copyright infringing content on the Internet and in particular to identifying such material for both copyright owners and content builders. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to identifying copyright infringing content on the Internet through publicly accessible lists of addresses for such content.
2. Description of the Related Art
Copyright laws, due to the explosion of Internet access, are undergoing new interpretations and developments in policing copyright infringement. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, for example, makes it illegal for a person to knowingly xe2x80x9clinkxe2x80x9d (provide a hyperlink to) infringing or xe2x80x9cpiratedxe2x80x9d copyrighted material. Examples of copyrighted material which might be illegally copied and/or linked to include text, music, graphics, audio and videos, and any type of document or original work. Search engines are exempt from liability for linking to illegal material since there is no easy way to determine if the content is illegal.
On the Internet, if pirated material is in a Web server located physically within the United States, the copyright owner can legally cause the contents to be removed from the server. Hyperlinks to the offending material are then rendered useless and irrelevant. However, when the server on which pirated material is located is outside the jurisdiction of the United States, there exists no easy copyright enforcement mechanism since there exists no universal copyright law with respect to the Internet. Policing Internet material worldwide is therefore difficult when the pirated content originates outside the United States and only links to such content are located within a server in the United States. Additionally, other countries may have similar copyright provisions.
A common method for locating infringing material is to use search engines that locate content, such as key words, present in the original copyrighted work. Web site content builders, the most likely candidates to infringe copyrighted material, typically do not intentionally violate copyrights by linking to copyrighted material because of the time, trouble and cost involved to correct a disputed link. Additionally, the potential for infringement lawsuits is a significant deterrent.
It would be desirable, therefore, to allow content builders for Web sites to determine whether material being considered for hyperlinking is illegally copied, or at least in dispute. It would also be desirable to provide a method, system and program to alert both copyright holders and content builders of pirated material.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a method, system and program for identifying copyright infringing content on the Internet.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method, system and program for identifying copyright infringing content on the Internet for both copyright owners and content builders.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method, system and program for identifying copyright infringing content on the Internet through publicly accessible lists of addresses for such content.
The foregoing objects are achieved as is now described. A central repository server contains a reference list of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for copyright infringing or disputed material located on the Internet, with an indication of whether the material is categorized as infringing or disputed. A filter/transcode program operates with the reference list to test content for infringing links, comparing the URLs for links within the content to those within the reference list. When a match is determined, the category of the link within the reference list is checked. If the link is an infringing link, the filter/transcode program may automatically remove the link from the content. If the link is disputed, the filter/transcode program may modify the link to include a warning that the link may be directed to infringing material. Comments may be added to the tested content by the filter/transcode program to certify the test results. Additions to the reference list may be submitted by the copyright owner, subject to verification. Initial classification of links as disputed until infringement can be verified to allow the reference list to be considered reliable by content builders and publishers.
The above as well as additional objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.